


House of Cards

by WolfRune20855



Category: SKAM (Italy)
Genre: AU, Cousin AU, Eva Brighi and Edoardo Incanti are cousins, Eva and Edo bonding, F/M, Gen, I don't want Ele to hurt like that, The season 3 trailer gave me anxiety, complete and total au, everything is the same but everything is also different, season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 12:39:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18052661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfRune20855/pseuds/WolfRune20855
Summary: When Silvia asks if she knows who Edoardo Incanti is, Eva lies. Everyone at school knows who Edoardo Incanti is, and even if she didn’t, she’s seen him at every Christmas and Easter since she was born. Eva knows who Edoardo is because the Edoardo Incanti is her cousin.She just doesn't want her friends to know that.~An AU where Edo and Eva are cousins with a close bond and Eva suddenly finds herself in a difficult situation when her friend wants to sleep with him.





	House of Cards

**Author's Note:**

> I am not going to pretend to know anything about Italian culture. My Italian stops at a level 2, because learning another language is hard and Italian has a lot of tenses. That being said, I love Skam—especially Skam Italia—and I am eagerly awaiting the next season (even though I know it will break my heart). I got way too invested in Marti's season. 
> 
> I love the Edo/Eva dynamic in the show and I wish they'd explore it more (but I know that they probably won't so I wrote this fic).
> 
> Please remember that this was written by a 20-year-old Texan who has never lived anywhere else in her life. Ever. I am bound to get some things wrong.
> 
> Anyways, I'd love to hear what you think. I'm thinking about expanding this fic to seasons 2 (and maybe 3) but I'm not sure.
> 
> Thank you for reading.

When Silvia asks if she knows who Edoardo Incanti is, Eva lies. Everyone at school knows who Edoardo Incanti is, and even if she didn’t, she’s seen him at every Christmas and Easter since she was born. Eva knows who Edoardo is because  _ the  _ Edoardo Incanti is her cousin. 

But she lies to Silvia, because Silvia is obviously smitten, and the last thing that she’s about to do is set her sweet new friend up with her narcissistic cousin. Even though he’s the only person that she can stand at family get togethers—even though he’s the closest thing that she has to a brother—he goes through girls unnaturally fast and Silvia doesn’t need that. She needs someone to love her, so Eva lies. 

She only feels bad about it for a second, because then Silvia starts talking about Edoardo as if he hung the moon himself and Eva knows that this was the right decision. Telling her the truth would have made things complicated—and complicated is the last thing that Eva needs right now.

When Sana insists that she talk to Federico Canegallo to get them into the party, she does. For a second, she considers texting Edo, telling him that her friends want to go to his party, but something stops her. The text message rests in her queue for three days and she stares at it—constantly.

_ Hey, can we come to your party? _

It’s a simple message, and it isn’t as if he’ll say no. But he’ll feel some weird sort of family obligation to baby her—he’ll promise her parents to keep a watchful eye on her—and she doesn’t want that. She doesn’t want his presence looming over her shoulder, making sure that everything’s okay. 

Eventually, she breaks down and texts Federico. He’s always had a thing for her anyway.  _ The more the merrier,  _ he texts back. 

And then they get to the party—Ele, and Silvia, and Fede, and Sana, and her—and Edoardo arches an eyebrow when she introduces herself to him as if to say  _ “Really? You want to keep this a secret?”  _ Eva nods, summoning the most menacing glare that she can.  _ Yes.  _ She doesn’t want his popularity. She’s had enough fake friends in the past. She doesn’t need him to ruin this for her— 

She still corners him in the bathroom. 

“What are you doing?” Edoardo glances up from washing his hands as Eva closes the door behind herself. Hopefully, none of her friends realize that she’s gone and decide to go searching for her. This’ll be a hard situation to explain.

“You can’t sleep with Silvia,” Eva says.

“Who?”

Eva frowns. Of course, Edo doesn’t know who Silvia is. He uses girls to avoid his boatload of insecurities, family drama, and abandonment issues. Silvia is just another one of those girls to him.

“My friend,” Eva answers, “The pretty blonde one.”

“Ah.” Edo grins. “I don’t know, Eva. She seems pretty interested in me. I doubt that it would take much effort. In fact, I’m fairly certain she singled me out the moment she entered.”

“She’s a nice girl,” Eva defends her friend, “She deserves better than you.”

Edo’s grin falls—his face transforms into a stony mask. Eva could no more tell what he is thinking than she could a marble statue. Guilt tugs at her stomach. 

“Edo.” She reaches out, frowning when he jerks away from her. “I didn’t mean-”

“You did,” Edoardo cuts her off. He holds her gaze. “Don’t lie to me, Eva. We don’t do that.” And it’s true. They have too many liars in their family to start lying to each other. 

Eva backtracks, “Look, Silvia, she wants a boyfriend, and you don’t want a girlfriend. I know you, Edo. You two just aren’t…” A slight frown tugs at Edoardo’s lips as she talks. Eva stops talking. She’s digging herself a deeper hole.  _ She should shut up now.  _ But, like an idiot, she doesn’t, “She needs someone who cares.”

“I care.”

Eva knows that she should just quit while she’s ahead. She should stop talking, apologize to Edo for hurting his feelings, and go back to her friends. She should let whatever happens between Edoardo and Silvia happen, and maybe tell her friends the truth about him being her cousin. She should stop. 

“You do,” Eva agrees, “About Federico. About me. But when was the last time that you were even the slightest bit in love with a girl you slept with?”

She knows the answer. He knows that she knows it. That’s why he doesn’t answer. Instead, he leans back against the sink, resting on his palms. “I don’t give  _ you _ relationship advice.”

Eva’s jaw drops. “You’re kidding, right? You threatened Gio the moment you discovered we were dating. He was convinced that you were going to kill him and Martino for a month.”

A small smile crosses Edoardo’s lips as his gaze turns distant as if he is recalling a fond memory. “Guys who cheat on their girlfriends have a tendency to repeat the experience,” he says, “I did you a favor, Ev.”

“You did not.”

“Trust me, I did.”

“Look, Edo-”

“I won’t do it,” says Edoardo, “I won’t pursue your friend.”

“Thank you.” Eva lets out a sigh of relief.

“But if she keeps pestering me like she is, and asking me if I want to have sex with her...” Edoardo’s gaze is serious when it meets Eva’s. “I will.” With that, Edoardo pushes through the bathroom doors, breaking their quiet moment. 

A drunk teenager stumbles into Eva as she leaves a few moments later, and Eva apologizes. At least Edoardo said that he’d leave Silvia alone. Now, all she has to do was convince Silvia that he wasn’t the one for her. That shouldn’t be too hard. Right?

_ Wrong.  _

They end up leaving the party early, but Silvia is convinced that Edoardo is halfway in love with her. Eleonora tries to convince her that she should wait for someone special, and Eva joins in. Anything—anything—to get Silvia to stop talking about Edoardo as if he is the most important person in the world. She’s having a hard time reconciling Silvia’s perfect sex-god dream boy with the Edoardo she grew up with. 

And then Silvia asks if she can have sex with him at her house.

Eva chokes on air. “I’m sorry,” she says after clearing her throat. There’s no way she heard that right. Silvia did not just ask Eva to have sex with _ her cousin _ at  _ her house _ . “What?”

When Silvia explains her situation—when she looks at Eva with those puppy-dog eyes—she wants to say yes. Under the expectant stares of her friends, Eva wants to step up and be the friend that she should be. She wants to be the friend that she needs to be.

“Eh…”

Silvia is staring at her with that desperate pleading expression, so Eva decides  _ fuck it.  _ If Edo wants to have sex with her friend, even though she explicitly told him not to, he can awkwardly explain to Silvia why they can’t have sex in his closest cousin’s room. That is a mental image that Eva doesn’t need. Edo and Silvia. Edo and anyone, really.

Who knows? Maybe this will discourage him. 

“Yes.” Eva nods. “Sure.” 

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Silvia reaches around to hug Eva, squeezing her tightly, and Eva grins. This is the happiest that she’s felt in a long time.

Silvia texts Edoardo the address and waits. Eva watches her as she frowns at her phone, waiting for him to confirm. Three minutes later, Eva gets a call. She doesn't have to glance down at the caller ID to know who it is, but she still does. The picture displayed before her is one of Edoardo at 13, a skinny boy grinning at the camera from under a head of curly hair. Pre-puberty Edo, her favorite version of him.

“It’s Gio,” Eva lies to her friends and excuses herself from the table. She hits the answer button and brings the phone up to her ear. “Ciao,” she says cheerfully.

“I’m not having sex with your friend in your room,” Edoardo says immediately.

“You shouldn’t be having sex with my friend at all,” Eva says. “What did I say about you and her being a thing? You’re not right for each other.”

“And I suppose you know someone who is.” There’s a bitterness in Edoardo’s voice that Eva’s never heard before. 

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” is Edo’s answer. “Look, I just—I can’t. Not at your place. That’d be too weird.”

“So, tell her that.”

“Tell her that I’m unwilling to sleep with her at your house because you’re my cousin?” Edoardo laughs. “So, you’re ready to come clean to all of your cool, new friends about your shameful little secret?”

“Nobody said that I was ashamed of you.”

“Then why didn’t you tell them?”

“Becuase…” Eva trails off. This is so hard to explain. How can she explain to Edo that every female friend she has ever had has had a crush on him? “Look, I just wanted to be someone other than Edoardo Incanti’s little cousin for once. Can you blame me for that?”

Edoardo sighs. “I suppose not. Just tell her that your parents are forcing you to have a family dinner tonight, or something. She’ll make other plans.”

When Eva returns to her friends, she tells Silvia that her parents have decided to have some family friends over for dinner. They’ll have a full house on Friday. The expression on her friend’s face breaks her heart.

But they make other arrangements and everything goes as planned. Silvia has sex with Edoardo. 

He stops talking to her.

Even though Eva knew that her cousin could be an asshole, this is a new level. She’s starting to think that maybe she doesn’t know him at all.

Then, at the party, when Laura tells her that she’s been seeing Gio, she freezes. Her heart stops. And all that Eva can think of is Edo’s warning to her a few weeks earlier.  _ “Guys who cheat on their girlfriends have a tendency to repeat the experience.”  _ Eva thinks that Edoardo might be an asshole who isn’t calling Silvia back, but at least he didn’t cheat on her. 

_ This is how Laura felt,  _ she realizes. There isn’t a worse feeling in the world than this. 

And she wants to make Gio hurt. She wants him to feel just as horrible as she does—to feel this hollowness in his chest. 

Federico Canegallo is there. Federico with his soft words and his teasing smile. Federico who wants to make things better. Federico who has always had a thing for her.

She kisses him. 

Eva kisses Federico, and for one moment, everything is okay. The hollowness in her chest swells up and closes. And then almost as quickly… 

He has a girlfriend.

She has a boyfriend.

She flees the scene, tears running down her cheeks. She passes by Silvia, where she sits obsessing over Edoardo and runs to confront Gio. Then the truth comes out, and Eva feels like the shittiest person in the world.

Gio deserves better than her.

She tells Martino because she needs to tell someone, and she doesn’t feel like she knows Edoardo anymore. The little boy who played hide-and-seek with her is gone. He’s been replaced by a man, who Eva isn’t sure she likes very much. But she likes Martino, and telling him is almost as good at telling Edoardo.

She misses him, which is stupid because she shouldn’t miss someone that she barely even knows anymore, but she does anyway. She misses the boy that came to her rescue with pads the first time she got her period because her mother was out of town. She misses the boy who made jokes under his breath during mass and would stick up for her—the youngest of the cousins—against his brother. She misses the Edoardo that she’s known since she was born. 

She misses her friend—her brother. 

She almost texts him seven times.  _ Can we go back to being friends?  _ She never hits send.

In all honesty, she expects to never see him again. Maybe once a year at family gatherings, but never outside of that. Then, Silvia makes up her mind to confront him. It pains her to watch. Edoardo denies everything, of course. He always was the one who could charm them out of getting in trouble. 

Eva is proud of Eleonora when she steps forward to defend Silvia. Her assessment is almost spot on. Almost, but not quite. 

They walk away—the five of them clutching whatever little dignity they have left close to their chests. 

By Friday, Eva has lost her boyfriend too.

She feels like shit.

Wallowing in her own misery has never gotten Eva anywhere, but it doesn’t stop her from doing it. On Saturday, she cancels her study session with Federica and strands herself to the couch, surrounded by blankets and pillows. Mindlessly watching YouTube videos, Eva needs all the comfort that she can get. 

Her mother sends her a worried glance on her way out the door. She doesn’t say anything, though. She doesn’t ask what’s wrong. She just goes to work. On a Saturday. Like she always does. 

Eva’s starting to consider dropping out of school and permanently moving to the couch when there’s a knock at the door. Huddled in her cocoon of blankets, Eva frowns at the door. She doesn’t want to get up. She doesn’t want to do anything. The knocking doesn’t stop. Sighing, Eva stands and shuffles across the apartment. The door flies open…

Edoardo is standing in the doorway, an overnight suitcase at his side. “Can I come in?” he asks hesitantly.

Eva frowns. She promised herself that she wouldn’t talk to Edoardo—not until he apologized to Silvia or started acting like the cousin she used to love. 

“I know that you’re mad at me,” says Edo, “But my brother’s in town, and Fede’s nonna’s birthday’s this weekend, and I—look, Eva, I just need a place to crash. We don’t even have to talk to each other if you don’t want to.”

Stepping back, Eva holds the door wide open. She wouldn’t turn away Edoardo—not now. He’s the only family she’s got that’s ever given a damn about her. Hesitantly, he steps inside, glancing around. 

“Thanks,” he mutters as he places his suitcase beside the door. 

“No problem.” Because it’s not one—because if there’s one thing that Eva’s sure of it’s that she’ll be there for Edo when he needs her, just as he used to be there for her. Before he slept with Silvia and things got complicated. 

“You didn’t have to.” Edo glances around the apartment as if he hasn’t been to Eva’s place a million times before. 

“Well, I did anyway,” is Eva’s answer, because she can’t think of anything else to say. “You can crash on the couch tonight.”

Edo glances towards the living room, to the piles and piles of blankets that cover the couch, and chuckles. “Were you building a fort?”

“No.” Eva’s face reddens. She hasn’t built a pillow fort since she was a child. “I’m just having a day.” Crossing the living room, she flops down atop the couch. Edo joins her a second later, staring at her over the cushions, concern etched into the lines of his face. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong, or am I going to have to guess?”

“Gio and I are over,” Eva says, “Probably. He’s not returning my calls. He probably never wants to see me again. I am the  _ worst  _ type of person.”

“Do you want me to break his nose?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Definitely.”

“What happened? Did he cheat on you?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard.” Eva shakes her head. “I cheated on him.”

“Oh.”

“With Fede.”

Edoardo’s eyes widen. “With my Fede? Federico Canegallo?”

“Who else would it be?” Eva sighs. “Now, everyone at school thinks that I’m a bigger slut than I already was.”

“If they say you’re a slut, then what do they say about me? You’ve had—what—three boyfriends? I can’t remember how many girls I’ve slept with.” Edo’s gaze is teasing, humorous, with a slight edge to it that she’s sure he doesn’t want her to see.

It brings the faintest hints of a smile to Eva’s lips. “It doesn’t work the same way for guys and girls. Sleeping with girls make you a player—it makes you cool.”

“And here I thought I did it because my papa never came to my football matches.”

Eva chuckles. “Well, he didn’t. She was right about that.”

“She was right about a lot of things.” Edo gets a far off look in his eyes, and Eva wonders why her cousin has to be so dramatic. His over-dramatic life is beginning to seep into her’s. Then again, maybe they’re both unnecessarily dramatic. “I’m sorry.”

Eva raises an eyebrow. The last thing she expected Edoardo to do was apologize. He doesn’t apologize. He makes excuses—he charms his way out of situations—and he rarely ever apologizes.

“You’re sorry for sleeping with Silvia?”

“I’m sorry for ruining our relationship,” Edoardo says, “I never really thought that I’d be at risk of losing my annoying little cousin.”

“But you’re not sorry for sleeping with Silvia, or the things that you said to her.”

“You shouldn’t have seen that.”

Eva sits upright, glaring at Edoardo. “It doesn’t work that way, Edo. You can’t be mean to everyone else and nice to me. I don’t get to be an exception to you girls-are-worthless mentality.”

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to. You treat women like they are things to be tossed aside when you get bored.”

Edoardo’s eyebrows furrow. “Every girl that I sleep with wants to have sex with me, Eva. Not everyone only sleeps with the love of their life.”

Eva inhales sharply. His words cut her like a knife. Was that what Gio was? Was he really the love of her life? Was he her one shot at happiness? Did she throw it all away just because she was stupid and insecure?

“Ev, you know what I mean. I don’t believe in soulmates the same way that you do.”

Eva stares at her cousin. He looks so serious, so confident, so sure. If he were anyone else, she would believe him. If he were anyone else, she wouldn’t be having this conversation. 

“That’s a lie,” Eva says, “And we both know it. You hide behind sex because you’re afraid of what will happen if you actually let someone in.”

“I don’t-”

“Come on, Edo, there has to be somebody—anybody—that you think you could actually fall for.”

Edoardo’s eyes light up. A grin tugs at his lips. Eva grins in response. She knew that her cousin was more than the player he prendends to be. She knew it! 

“You have someone in mind,” Eva says.

“I do.”

“Why don’t you ask her out then? I imagine you could be pretty good at planning a date.”

“I know I am.” He’s cocky, but, for the first time in a while, his smile reaches his eyes. Eva knows that she should be mad at him—she still hasn’t forgiven him for what happened with Silvia—but, at this moment, all she wants to do is smile along with him. So, she does. 

Three hours later, halfway through watching some shitty French film on Netflix, Edoardo leans over to her and asks her, “What’s your friend's name? The one who said I have shitty hair?”

“Eleonora,” she answers without thinking. 

It is only when Edo walks up to her and Ele in the middle of the street and offers Eva’s friend a ride home, that she realizes why he asked. Eva wants to groan. Why can’t Edoardo hit on someone other than her best friend? Why did it have to be Eleonora?

He doesn’t stop flirting with her either. Eva watches as he swears, saying that Eleonora is beautiful, and she rolls her eyes. But she doesn’t stop Edo. He’s good—she knows he’s good—and Eleonora won’t put up with his bullshit. Besides, someone in her life deserves to be in a good relationship. 

At the end of the year—after Edoardo apologizes to Silvia and Eleonora shows Eva Martino’s phone—her house of cards comes tumbling down. She’s sitting in the back of the room, laughing at something that Sana said when Silvia’s eyes widen. A second later, Edo sidles up to her, perching on the arm of her chair. The spoon drops out of Fede’s mouth. 

“There’s a party at Fede’s place after—if you girls want to come.” He looks at Eleonora as he says it, and she makes a show of ignoring him. Silvia is glaring daggers at Eva and Sana is eyeing her curiously. 

Eva answers, “I think we have plans.” 

“Very well. I’ll see you around, Eva, Eleonora, girls.” Edoardo excuses himself and vanishes, winking at her as he leaves. Eva wants to yell, to chase after him and demand why he did that, to turn back time so that the cat can fit neatly back in the bag. 

Sana purses her lips and raises an eyebrow. “I thought you had a thing with Federico Canegallo.”  _ Not Edoardo Incanti,  _ remains unsaid. She’s poking for answers, the way that Sana does.

Silvia takes a deep breath. “Are you two-”

“No,” Eva answers quickly. “No. No. Not at all.”

“What is it then?”

Eva shrinks under Sana’s inquisitive gaze, Eleonora’s curious eyes, Silvia’s accusing expression, and Federica’s quirked brow. “He’s my cousin,” she mutters.

“What?”

“How?”

“So you knew him this whole time?”

Eleonora laughs, a lighthearted chuckle that breaks the tension. “Of course he is.” 

Eva meets her gaze—so confident, so secure, so like-Edoardo and unlike him at the same time—and she feels her spirits lift. Eleonora doesn’t hate her. She doesn’t think that Eva is an evil slut. She believes in her. Eva is sure that Eleonora would stand on the tabletop and shout Baby K lyrics if it would cheer her up.

Eleonora is there for her.

“Yes. He’s my cousin. And none of you get to be angry that I didn’t tell you—not when you were obsessing over him the way you were.” One by one, she holds gazes of each of her friends. “Now, what are our plans for this summer?” 

Slowly, the subject changes. Eva sees that her friends want to ask her about it—about why she lied—but they don’t. They won’t ask until she’s ready to talk about it.

Across the room, Eva meets Edoardo’s stare. He smiles and winks at her. Eva grins in response.


End file.
